Panic in the Sky
"Panic in the Sky" is the eleventh episode of the second season of . It originally aired on July 9, 2005. It is the third episode of the four-part finale of the Cadmus story arc. Plot Professor Hamilton installs a transmitter on Galatea's forehead putting her in telepathic contact with the Ultimen. He explains that, unlike the previous versions, these Ultimen clones are just "blank slates," entirely dependent on Galatea's commands. Waller appears, telling Galatea it is time. As she prepares to leave on her mission, Galatea stops, turns back, and gives Hamilton a goodbye hug, calling him "Daddy". With that comment, Hamilton's face falls. Aboard the Watchtower, the crew are still working flat-out to restore main power as quickly as possible. The first thing they get back is communications, which allows them to speak with Flash, who reports from the surface that, mercifully, there are no fatalities. Seeing a news report of the devastation, Superman calls a meeting of the founders, sans Flash and Batman. He says they've lost the trust of the people, and Wonder Woman proposes making a gesture of cooperation. The founders announce to the rest of the League that they are temporarily giving themselves up for arrest, until their innocence is proved. Before leaving, Superman tells Kara to "hold the fort." When called, Flash agrees to come too, but Batman refuses absolutely, preferring instead to track down those responsible for framing them, telling them that "This is the single dumbest idea I've ever heard". Six of the seven founders surrender themselves to the authorities. Aboard the Watchtower, the systems detect a volley of incoming Damocles-class missiles, which deploy driller heads instead of explosive payloads. The missiles strike, boring into the hull and disgorging the Ultimen. Galatea follows, issuing two simple orders: clear her a path to the station's reactor room, and then kill everyone in the Watchtower. Inside Cadmus, Amanda Waller and General Eiling are watching the progress of the attack, when Batman appears, knocks out Eiling easily, and confronts Waller. He tells her that, moral considerations outside, the League wouldn't have fired the cannon. They've been keeping tabs on Cadmus for months – as witness Superman's break-in to rescue Question – and would have known that the facility was empty when it was hit. The cannon was fired remotely, and out of the three people smart enough to pull that off, the only one not already on the Watchtower was Lex Luthor. Batman suggests that Waller "start looking at him, hard," then leaves (it is uncertain whether he notices the attack going on). A full-scale battle rages inside the Watchtower. Even the human support staff, though told to stay sheltered, join in the fighting. As a group of Ultimen reach the infirmary, Huntress and Question join the fray, as does Captain Atom, who rises, still injured, from his sick bed, having decided whose side he is on. Steel notices a danger signal from the reactor room and flies down to join Atom. As the League takes the upper hand, Supergirl breaks off and runs down to check. She finds Atom knocked unconscious, and sees Galatea wiping the floor with Steel. Galatea informs Kara that she is about to sabotage the reactor and blow up the Watchtower - adding with a smirk, "but what I'm hoping, is that you'll be dumb enough to try and stop me." They fight, but Supergirl is outmatched – Galatea is stronger and more aggressive than she is. But as they fight, Supergirl goads her with the fact that she is not a real person, and Galatea becomes even more violent. Back at Cadmus, Waller has started "looking" at Luthor, and it has taken her an embarrassingly short time to discover that Batman is right: Luthor has been poaching copies of advanced Cadmus technology and shipping it to his laboratory at LexCorp. Hamilton makes a quick examination of the technology and confirms that it could have been used to remotely fire the Watchtower's cannon, "but that's the least of it..." Waller calls Galatea and orders her to cease the attack. Galatea, now obsessed with killing Supergirl, ignores the order. As she burns Supergirl with her heat vision, Steel awakens in time to fire a blast that drives her back. Reaching the end of the re-start process, the power is restored. As Galatea charges, Supergirl rips out a huge power coupling and rams it into her stomach, feeding her a massive surge of electricity. Up on the bridge, the League cheers as the last of the Ultimen are defeated, but the power goes off as soon as it came back on. Supergirl helps Steel to his feet, while Galatea is left on the floor, twitching and catatonic. In his laboratory, Luthor has finished his great project: an android body bearing his likeness, after the design of AMAZO, into which he will transfer his consciousness, thus making himself immortal and superpowerful: not only will his scheme succeed in making him a living god, but he has made the Justice League outlaws, so that killing Superman, as he has always dreamed, will now be an act of heroism. Before starting the transfer, he is confronted by Batman. They briefly fight, but Luthor quickly subdues Batman and throws him out of the window with his mysterious super-strength. Before he can hit, however, a hand grabs Batman by the shoulder, saving his life. Just before Luthor throws the transfer switch, Waller appears with a nano disassembler beam gun and disintegrates the android, telling him he's under arrest for framing the League, and to back her up, all seven founders are standing before them now. Superman tells Luthor that he's outnumbered and out of options. Luthor angrily refuses to give in... and abruptly begins to writhe and scream in pain, and mechanical tendrils erupt from the flesh of his back and arms. A familiar three-dot triangle appears on his chest, and a skeletal face emerges from his stomach, accompanied by a familiar voice: Brainiac. Continuity * The episode picks up directly from the events of "Flashpoint." * Batman refers to his conversation with Waller in "The Doomsday Sanction." * Luthor makes reference to the creation of Amazo by Professor Ivo in , "Tabula Rasa." Batman likewise refers to when Luthor and The Atom fought Amazo in , "The Return," and Waller uses an anti-nanotechnology beam of the same kind Luthor designed in that episode. * Galatea's final fate is unknown. Background Information DVD Release * * Justice League Unlimited - The Complete Series (DVD) * Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (Blu-Ray only) Production Inconsistencies * After the core Leaguers announce to the others that they are surrendering to the authorities, Wonder Woman's eyes are black as she flies away. * In "Flashpoint," Booster Gold joins the rescue team that Flash leads down to the surface, but here he is shown fighting aboard the Watchtower. * When Galatea is lying on the floor twitching, her eyes are black. * When Waller looks to see Eiling getting up from Batman's punch, he is behind her. In all other shots he is to her right. * It's not clear who rescues Batman after Luthor defenestrates him. The flying rescuer's hand and forearm is bare which precludes Superman, Flash, and John Stewart (who have a sleeve up to the wrist; also, Flash and John's hands are usually gloved), as well as Wonder Woman (who has a bracelet). Also, the hand is that of a Caucasian, which excludes J'onn (and John again). Moreover, Superman could move faster than the rescuer did, Wonder Woman would more likely hurl her lasso, and John would use his ring. This leaves Hawkgirl as the only possible contender. However, the hand doesn't look female, which means the hand's appearance is most likely a coloring error of J'onn's hand. Trivia * This episode marks the last appearances of Galatea and the Ultimen. It also marks the last appearance of Professor Hamilton in the DCAU. * It's revealed in this episode that Cadmus's headquarters was located in New Mexico. * Steel puts the number of Justice Leaguers at 60, not including the founding members. It is unclear whether he is including the Leaguers on the ground, or only counting those in the Watchtower, and whether or not he counts civilian personnel as well. * Steel classifies the missiles fired at the Watchtower as Lexcorp-manufactured "Damocles-class" missiles. The name Damocles refers to a classic myth about a courtier who was punished by his king by being seated at a dinner table with a sword hanging over his head by a thin thread; the myth has frequently been used as a metaphor for the threat of nuclear war. In the DC Original Animated Movie "Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths", which was originally meant to be part of the DCAU, the Crime Syndicate decides to solve the problem of the President threatening them with nukes with "Project Damocles", a bomb that would destroy the planet. * The episode's title is a hint towards the reveal at the conclusion: Brainiac was the antagonist in a multi-part Superman comic story which shared the title. * The Flash's response of "Batmobile lost a wheel, Joker got away" comes from a children's altered version of "Jingle Bells" which references Batman. The full version was sung by the Joker in "Christmas With the Joker". * This episode was featured as a bonus episode on the Blu Ray version of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. Cast Uncredited Appearances *The Atom *Atom Smasher *Aztek *B'wana Beast *Black Canary *Blue Devil *Booster Gold *Captain Atom *Commander Steel *Creeper *Crimson Fox *Dr. Light *Dr. Mid-Nite *Fire *Green Arrow *Hawk *Hawkgirl *Hourman *Ice *Metamorpho *Huntress *Obsidian *Question *Red Tornado *The Ray *Sand *Shining Knight *Stargirl *Starman *STRIPE *Vigilante *Wildcat *Downpour *Juice *Long Shadow *Shifter *Wind Dragon Quotes Category:Justice League Unlimited episodes